The Mediterranean Red List On Line

Thu, 18 Feb 2010

The IUCN Mediterranean Red List programme is pleased to announce a new regional section on the IUCN Red List website, which highlights the outcomes of the Mediterranean Red List initiative. An ongoing process that aims at assessing more than 2000 Mediterranean species according to the IUCN Regional Red Listing Guidelines, the initiative provides information on the conservation status of the fauna and flora of the Mediterranean region, an area considered as a global biodiversity hotspot at both terrestrial and marine levels.

Throughout 2010 we will be celebrating biological diversity – the variety of life on earth – and boosting awareness of how important it is for our lives. Most people appreciate the beauty of the natural world, but awareness of biodiversity, how seriously it is threatened, and the implications for human wellbeing, is alarmingly low. From time immemorial, nature has fed us, cured us, and protected us. But today the roles have switched. We need to feed nature, we need to cure it and protect it if we want to secure a healthy and prosperous future for our children. The purpose of this Mediterranean initiative is to help the identification of those species threatened with extinction at the Mediterranean level, to encourage appropriate regional and local conservation actions and improve the biodiversity status.

The Mediterranean taxonomic groups assessed to date include mammals, amphibians, reptiles, endemic freshwater fishes, cartilaginous marine fishes, and dragonflies. On-going assessments include marine fish, freshwater molluscs, and aquatic plants. In addition, the status of the cetaceans in the Mediterranean Sea is being reviewed and will shortly be published.

The Mediterranean Red List programme, led by the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, receives the support of the MAVA Foundation, the TOTAL Foundation, the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID), the European Commission, and the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea. The work developed links with the IUCN Species Programme Units in Gland, Washington and Cambridge as part of the Global Red Listing programme.

The new Mediterranean Red List website can be accessed through the following link: